World Refugee Day was June 20th, as it is every year. Considering Angelina has spent so much time in New York recently, I wondered if she would spend the day at the United Nations, making a speech or marking the day in New York using her title as Special Envoy to the UNHCR. Turns out, Angelina did travel though – she went to a refugee camp in northern Burkina Faso, full of thousands of Malian refugees. She was there to highlight the fastest-growing refugee crisis there, with 1.2 million displaced people in refugee camps in the area. The UNHCR released the text of her full speech, which you can read here. Some quotes from Jolie’s speech to mark World Refugee Day:
I’m humbled to be in Burkina Faso, and by the extraordinary grace of the people I have met here. I am here to show my solidarity with the Burkinabe people, who continue to welcome their displaced brothers and sisters despite terrible attacks and challenges; sharing what little they have, at a time when other countries with far more resources have closed their borders and their minds to refugees. Thank you for allowing me to be here. I am so honored and grateful to be among you, and to bow my head in respect for your courage and strength.
Today is World Refugee Day. I have marked this day every year for twenty years with refugees in different countries. I have never been as worried about the state of displacement globally as I am today. Not only are there now over 82 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, but the numbers have doubled in a decade. 1 in 95 people – one percent of humanity – are displaced, and the numbers are rising.
We have to wake up to the track we are on globally, with so many conflicts raging and the very real possibility that climate change will force tens if not hundreds of millions of people to have to leave their homes in the future, with no possibility of return. It is not that we are at a breaking point – this is broken.
The way we as an international community try to address conflict and insecurity is broken. It is erratic, it is unequal, it is built on inherited privilege, it is subject to the whim of political leaders, and it is geared towards the interests of powerful countries, including my own, at the expense of others. Crimes committed against the women and children of Burkina Faso, or Yemen, or Myanmar, or Ethiopia, for example, are not enough to shake the established world order to its foundations as they should be – and as they would be, if they were happening in certain other parts of the world.
This is where the humanity and decency of the world is measured. Where human strength and resilience are most clearly and starkly seen. Not in the world’s gleaming capitals, but in places like this. There is nowhere I would rather be today than here, with refugees, the people I admire most in the world. Thank you for allowing me be with you today, on this World Refugee Day.
I agree that human decency is measured – or should be measured – by how marginalized, disenfranchised, displaced people are treated by the so-called civilized societies of the world. And the answer is…we’re not doing right by displaced people. And holy sh-t, she’s really been working with the UNCHR for two full decades. Incredible.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I worked for an NGO years ago when I lived in D.C. and they specifically focused on continent of Africa. Of course Burkina Faso was one of the countries they worked with. They focused on community engagement, nutrition, water, sanitation hygiene, youth and women’s empowerment.
The stories that the caseworkers would share upon their return were both joyful and heartbreaking. But if you went several miles to the Appalachian mountains of West VA you will find devastating poverty as well. White American who want to help those in need must find a balance to help those in third world countries and here in their own country.
Or other white people who are not helping those in third world countries could reach out to affected communities within their own country. We can and should all do our parts to help out, especially if we’ve identified a gap/need somewhere. We don’t need to divert much-needed resources from an affected group to support other affected groups. It’s a conversation that we have often about food security and climate change. There’s enough food right now to feed the world’s population, but they are in abundance in some regions and limited in others.
@girl_ninja – I do think there is value in what you point out. This has always been my issue with AJ’s particular brand of activism. It has always been heavily (totally?) focused outside of the US, on areas of mostly black and brown people. As a woman of color, this kind of thing can seem like white saviorism. And to be clear, there would be a difference if she were outspoken about immigration rights in the US or BLM issues. Focusing on black and brown people outside the US, people who experience a type of absolute poverty that doesn’t exist here, is why I use that term.
I used to love her and I read all of her interviews for a long time, starting from around the time she adopted Maddox. There has always been a subtle white savior vibe to how she has talked about her work, and even how she has talked about her adopted children. I turned in my AJ stan club card right before the 2008 election when she said in an interview that she wasn’t sure who she was going to vote for between Obama and McCain. If you really care about the issues you say you care about, there is clearly one better choice (not perfect, but better). She’s said other similar, almost neo-conservative things over the years, like how she and Clint Eastwood actually aren’t that different politically. And I’ll never forget her basically referring to Africa as a country some years back when she talked about the movie she was going to make which focused on a white explorer in an African country (I think Louis Leakey?).
I’m conflicted because the awareness of a situation like what’s happening in Burkina Faso is wonderful. But so few white people listen to people of color when they/we say there are better ways to raise awareness that would actually empower and uplift other voices.
Disagree. The US can afford to solve domestic poverty overnight, and it can certainly afford foreign aid at the same time.
Think of it this way: the size of the US economy is 21 trillion dollars and it generally grows around 2%/year (faster than any other wealthy country). The US has a population around 330 million. That’s a whole lot of money spread around 330 million people — it’s about $65k per person, which is significantly higher than the current median income in the US. No one in the US should live in poverty. Foreign aid, btw, is measured in millions of dollars.
For contrast, the next largest economy is that of China (about 14 trillion dollars). It grows around 6 percent a year, but that isn’t indefinitely (this rate of growth is associated with China’s current economic model, which will need to be abandoned). China has a population of around 1.3 billion. That’s roughly $10k per person. Were wealth equally distributed across all Chinese, Chinese people would remain relatively poor. So, the Chinese situation is fundamentally different from the American one.
The US economy accounts for one quarter of the global economy. One quarter! No other country save China even comes remotely close to this share. If the US somehow can’t afford to help other countries…what country can? (Keep in mind that the link between aid + development was the great lesson of the postwar era). If the US can’t afford to help those at home living in poverty, what country can?
In short, the US can afford to help other countries around the world AND ensure every American lives a relatively wealthy lifestyle. This is neither a zero sum game nor a matter of striking a balance! Americans can afford to do both even with very little balance. They simply need to make different choices about what they will tolerate as a society.
Staggering.
And we are talking about it today bc she has used her platform and privilege to shed light on this ongoing humanitarian crisis.
For 20 years she has been showing up, she is authentically a good person walking the walk.
Three cheers for AJ!
I’m so conflicted with the UN (in genera) and their use of high profile envoys/ambassadors. On one hand there is now high profile discussion of what is happening in Burkina Faso, but on the other hand it does so by continuing to put privileged wealthy white individuals in positions of power and centres them.
I do appreciate that she is increasingly critical of the international system though and I don’t doubt her own commitment and care toward the refugee crisis as she has been a consistent advocate for their rights for twenty years. Plus KIND which she co-founded is a great organisation providing legal representation for kids.
I agree. There is also a commitment to an ongoing visual….white people saving black people. As a woman of mixed race, it is not healthy to constantly see this narrative in the media, regardless of the intention which I can totally appreciate is good.
I understand the value in celebrity to add exposure to issues, but black people need to feel empowered and this typically isn’t the way.
I’m 47 and only now am I really sensitive to this. Not to mention the typical portrayal of non-white people in film and tv. The number of shows that I’ve had to turn off because my brain simply cannot take the visual of the only black character being homeless, depauperate, on drugs, evil etc. It becomes hard to find anything to watch tbh.
There was an article a few days ago about Regé-Jean Page where he talks about wanting to see black joy. YES PLEASE. We aren’t only a part of the population that needs saving. We also thrive, have families, friends, amazing adventures, joy, and love. The fact that I rarely see that in the media is a big part of the oppression problem.
yeah, there’s such an unequal and damaging depiction of the world through our screens and you’re right, there needs to be more empowering visuals and much less of what we are seeing
I think that says more about society and the media than it does about the UN. People pay more attention when someone with a high profile speaks up, so the UN opts to use these celebrities for their platforms. I find the UN’s lethargy much more concerning than its use of celebrities. That said, I definitely agree about the centering of white people in black pain. I’ve also gotten to an age where I cannot watch black trauma or a show without/with poor representation.
I foster several children (girls) in Burkina Faso through Plan Canada. I deliberately chose BF because the situation there is really dire. I don’t think they or their families resent a white person helping them to get an education, clothes, books, medicine, etc. I’m in contact with them regularly and have built up good relationships with the girls and their parents.
In a country as war-torn as BF with terrorist groups like Al Queda and Boko Haram raping, pillaging and kidnapping, and lacking basic necessities like schools, hospitals, food, clean water, electricity, where is a black leader or icon they can look up to who will, as Regé-Jean Page says, bring black joy? The prime minister had to step down due to the failure of the government, which is in shambles, to stop terrorist attacks. These people need more than black joy, they need all the assistance they can get and if it means a famous white woman goes there to highlight the level of deprivation they’re suffering, I’m all for it.
Exactly. Like, what do people want?! The people of Burkina Faso to receive proper help or for the cause to be handled in a way that makes them feel better that their particular American concern is front and centre? AJ is walking the walk and actually doing it for the people there, that should be the primary concern not whether or not it’s done according to the social mores of a country across the world.
Yes, its such first world problems where people feel that someone in a desperate situation should turn down help because it doesn’t fit their ‘morals’ or makes them feel ‘bad’. They’re in desperate need. Right now anyone helping is a good thing. So unless people who complain are actually doing something to help, they should really take a look at their own culpability.